A Pro-bender's Story
by author12306
Summary: Dusk is the water-bender of a Pro-bending team, but when she has to stay at the Pro-bending arena there's only one space, and it's already taken. How will Mako, Bolin, Korra, and Asami react to having three new friends? This is rated for blood-bending and violence. That's all, no language or anything else.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

A/N: I wrote this during the first season of LoK, so it will still follow the FIRST season. It will also have some Amon theories that won't be true because of when I originally wrote it. And the first chapter takes place two years before Korra arrived in Republic City, it might be confusing if I didn't point that out.

* * *

Chapter 1: First Match, failure or victory?

Dusk, a young Pro-bender, shifted in her gear. The lights were blinding and she wondered why the crowd had fallen into a stunned silence.

"Don't worry, guys," Ayano, Dusk's best friend since preschool and her new teammate, soothed, "My mom said that if we were afraid then we'd have a higher chance of losing."

"Welcome the newest faces of Pro-bending, the Rat-foxes!" the announcer called over the microphone. The crowd immediately cheered for the three girls who were nervously awaiting their match.

"Chiho, don't be so scared," Dusk tried to soothe her trembling friend. Chiho had just recently moved to Republic City with her family.

Dusk gulped as the platform clicked into place against the arena.

"Even if we lose, we'll still be the youngest team to ever enter the big arena; don't worry," Dusk gently rested a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Welcome back the oldest team in Pro-bending history, the Boarquepines!" the announcer called. The crowd's cheers were deafening to Ayano, Dusk, and Chiho.

"Don't worry, we can do this," Ayano's knees trembled but she stayed steady.

They were now standing in in zone one.

_I can't be the one to lose for us, _Dusk thought as she got in a bending position. The Rat-foxes had gotten very good very fast in the junior Pro-bending. In the back of her mind she was now thinking about how weird it felt to wear the helmet and have her hair pulled into a ponytail at the same time.

"Round one," the referee called as the starting bell sounded.

Both teams immediately started.

Chiho and Dusk locked eyes for a moment. Their plan would take action.

_Next attack they send, I'll jump to my left and Dusk will land here, _Chiho thought as she sent a blast of fire towards the torso of the opposing teams earth-bender.

As water sprayed all three of them and fire turned it to steam Dusk and Chiho switched places.

Dusk sent a blast of water at the fire-bender across from her.

Chiho sent a blast of fire at the water-bender across from her.

The advance light blazed green and they dashed forward into a cloud of steam and rock dust.

Ayano sent a plate of rock towards the other teams water-bender and watched as they were sent off of the arena.

A hard a blast of water hit Dusk. She only caught herself in zone three of their own side of the arena. She tried to send of blast of water back towards the other team; they were too far away.

The green light let the Boarquepines advance.

"We need to fight back, hard," Chiho panted. She had been knocked to zone two, so had Ayano.

"Round one goes to the Boarquepines!" the announcer's voice made the crowd go wild.

"We have to try harder!" Ayano said.

"Agreed, I have an idea. Chiho and I normally switch places, so they probably suspect it again next round. Ayano, why don't you and Chiho switch places. Think you two can do it?" Dusk asked.

"But it's really far," Chiho murmured.

"I can create a significant distraction for you," Dusk smiled reassuringly as they settled back into their places.

"Round two," the referee called as the bell sounded.

The Boarquepines held nothing back. Rocks smashed against the ground and the Rat-foxes. Water left a fine mist in the air and fire turned it into steam.

"Why isn't the steam dissipating?" the Boarquepine fire-bender asked.

Dusk kept a fine supply of mist going into the heated air as Chiho and Ayano switched places around her.

Before the steam even cleared Chiho had sent a blast of fire at the unsuspecting earth-bender, knocking him back into zone two.

Ayano had also done a sneak attack, knocking the fire-bender back to zone two.

As two strong blasts of water connected both water-benders slid back a zone. Dusk was allowed to advance with the rest of her team. They knocked the Boarquepine team back to the edge of zone three.

A final blast of each of the three allowed elements sent the Boarquepines over the edge.

"A knockout! This new team shows promise!" the announcer called.

"We won!" Ayano cheered, pulling both friends into a group hug by the necks.

"Ayano, you're chocking us," Dusk gasped.

"The crowd is cheering so much," Chiho looked up with a stunned expression.

* * *

"I can't believe we won!" Dusk smiled as she pulled a clean shirt on over her head.

"Well believe it, it happened," Ayano smirked happily as she pulled her ponytail holder out of her hair and let it fall against her shoulders. Her soft black hair seemed to glow in the dim light of the changing room.

"I can finally take my hair out of this ridiculous ponytail," Dusk laughed as she pulled out her ponytail.

There was a knock on the changing room door.

Dusk opened it to reveal their only friend from school.

"Great job, guys," the younger boy, named Flame, smiled.

"Thanks," all three of them smiled at the same time.

"I was so nervous I'm still trembling," Chiho laughed as she sat down on the bench.

"My parents are probably here to pick me up, I've gotta go guys," Ayano waved as she walked past Flame.

"I need to get home. My parents had to work; I have to walk," Chiho sighed as she walked past Flame too.

"My parents watched, so I can wait here until they head this way," Dusk brushed the tangles out of her mid-back length blue-black hair.

"Did your sister come too?" Flame asked.

"Yeah, I bet she'll be here as quick as her little legs can carry her. She hasn't stopped talking about me since I found out I'd be coming to the big arena," Dusk smiled proudly.

"Sis! Sis!" a small brown haired girl, no older than seven, with bright green eyes ran up to the door, "Good job!"

"Thanks little sis," Dusk picked her sister up in a hug.

"Ew, you smell bad," her sister wrinkled her nose.

"Slow down, Aki," Dusk's mother sighed as they finally got to the changing room, "Good job Dusk."

"Thanks mom," Dusk smiled as she let Aki run back to their parents.

"Are you ready to go?" her father asked.

"Yeah," Dusk smiled, "Thanks for coming to congratulate us, Flame."

"See you on monday," Flame said as Dusk left with her family.

"You did good today. I can see the team will still get better," Dusk's father, the previous leader of the Rat-foxes, smiled.

"Thanks, dad," Dusk smiled.

"Dusk, you know how you've wanted a pet for awhile? Well, every Pro-bending team needs a mascot," Dusk's mother smiled.

"You mean I can finally get a rat-fox?!" Dusk bounced excitedly on her heels.

"Yes, tomorrow we'll take you to the pet store to pick one out," Aki grinned.

"Thanks guys!" Dusk smiled and hugged her parents.

* * *

"We're going to go get food and a collar. Dusk, you and Aki go look at all of the rat-foxes. We'll go to see if you've chosen one once we have everything else for it," Dusk's mom smiled.

"Okay," Dusk led Aki towards the large cages with one or two rat-foxes in each.

"Aw, that one looks cute," Dusk smiled as a small, fennec-brendal rat-fox poked a leg through the bars to investigate Dusk and Aki.

"Do you want to hold her?" a store worker asked as he walked behind the two of them.

"Yes," Dusk nodded.

The worker unlocked the cage and gently picked up the rat-fox, showing Dusk and Aki how to handle it properly. Then he gently handed it to Dusk.

The rat-fox climbed up onto Dusk's shoulder and it's fluffy tail brushed against the side of her face. It had large ears and big, black eyes. It carelessly scampered across Dusk's outstretched arm and back, slipping down the front of Dusk's shirt.

"It looks like you two found one," Dusk's mom laughed as she saw the rat-fox poke its head out of the bottom of Dusk's short shirt sleeve.

"Dusk, that rat-fox will represent your team, are you absolutely certain it's the one you want?" her father asked.

"Positive," Dusk smiled as the rat-fox climbed back onto her shoulder.

* * *

"I think we should name her V, because of the white V on her stomach," Aki gently petted V's head.

"Alright, that sounds good," Dusk smiled, "What do you think, V?"

V chirped happily and scampered up Aki's arm to sit on her shoulder.

"I think she likes it," Aki laughed.

"Don't you have show and tell on tuesday?" Dusk asked, "Why don't you take her with you for show and tell."

Aki seemed extremely happy at the suggestion.

"She needs to get used to people, anyways," Dusk smiled.

"Thanks, sis!" Aki hugged Dusk as V climbed back and forth between their heads.

* * *

"Dusk! We won't be able to get in training time at the arena if you don't hurry up and get up!" Ayano irritably shoved Dusk out of her bed.

Dusk yawned before she looked sleepily up at her friends, "Oh, it's morning."

"Honestly! It's been over a year and you still don't wake up on time before match training!" Chiho grabbed a change of clothes for Dusk from her dresser and threw it at the half asleep girl.

"I'll be ready in five minutes, okay?" Dusk asked with a yawn.

"Just hurry up," Ayano smirked as her and Chiho went to take food from the kitchen.

Soon Dusk walked in, her hair was brushed and pulled into a quick ponytail. She wore a plain, blue water-tribe shirt and a pair of dark blue, long pants.

"Where's V?" Chiho asked.

"Sorry, here she is," Aki brought V in, "I was giving her a bath."

"Thanks, Aki," Dusk smiled and held her hand out for V to climb on.

"We're leaving!" Ayano announced loudly through the house as her and Chiho dragged Dusk out.

"Who're we against today, again?" Dusk asked.

"The Fire-ferrets. They're a new team. There's a rumor the two brothers on the team worked for the Triple Threat Triad," Ayano answered, she often listened intently to any gossip she could eavesdrop on.

"I do not believe that rumor. Why would they let them form a team if they did?" Chiho always disapproved of the earth-bender's gossip habits.

"I'm just repeating what I heard," Ayano smirked and shrugged.

"Which training room do we have today?" Dusk asked.

"Four," Chiho shuddered.

"Last time we were in there one of the stored rock weights nearly killed me when it rolled off of the counter!" Dusk complained.

"I think it is haunted," Chiho said plainly.

"I wouldn't argue with you," Dusk nodded.

"Some of the older workers at the arena say that one of the construction workers tried to work with equipment and there was an accident," Ayano suggested.

"I'd believe that when I believe the Fire-ferrets are criminals," Dusk gave a small snort of laughter as she pushed the door to the Pro-bending arena building open.

"I agree with Dusk, this time," Chiho shrugged.

"We need to work harder today. The Fire-ferrets will fight hard. It's fact that they don't have a home, so they have to live here and the money they win pays for it," Ayano had her usual smirk.

"Not just another rumor you heard by lingering around those tables of male Pro-bender fangirls at school?" Dusk asked.

"I never hang out with those creeps, I merely sit a table away and listen to their conversations!" Ayano growled indignantly, "And I read it in a newspaper."

"Anyway, we need to get to work. We only have three hours to train before we have lunch plans," Chiho smiled.

"V, can you sit and practice your routine?" Dusk asked as she set V down on a table with a radio sitting on it.

V yipped and sat down obediently.

"My bending's been a bit weak lately," Ayano said as they decided what to work on first.

"Water vs. earth?" Dusk suggested.

Ayano nodded.

Dusk moved one of the water tanks from the side of the room towards the middle as Ayano did the same with a pile of earth plates.

"The first to be knocked across this line will lose," Chiho announced as she scorched two lines on the ground.

Without any warning Ayano and Dusk sprang into action. Dusk drew three thick spheres of water into the air and slammed them into Ayano, who sent two plates of earth towards Dusk.

Dusk dodged the disks of rock as she pulled more water from the tank. She sent a blast of water towards Ayano, who dodged.

Ayano sent an earth disk at Dusk and watched with satisfaction as Dusk was sent over the line.

"We need to work on your balance after attacking, Dusk. You have great strategies but you always get knocked back first," Chiho sighed as she offered Dusk a hand to pull her up.

"I know, but I'm always so focused on my next move," Dusk sighed.

"You think way too much," Ayano shrugged in boredom.

"You don't think enough, Ayano," Dusk and Chiho sighed in slight exasperation.

"I can win, can't I?" Ayano asked with an eyebrow arched in question.

"Barely," Dusk said in a sing-songy voice.

"We should keep practicing. We only have three hours to practice," Chiho reminded.

* * *

"This'll be exciting," Dusk grinned.

"They're the second youngest team to join," Chiho nodded.

"But we're the first, and we'll keep our title of best," Ayano winked to her friends as they stepped onto the platform.

"Go Rat-foxes!" the voices of the crowd blurred together.

Every time the Rat-foxes were on the platform they would put on a small bending show.

Dusk started with small orbs of water suspended around them. As they gained speed Ayano threw darts of stone and hit each one as Chiho lit the water into steam. As the steam began to fall Dusk stopped it and formed small flecks of water. She suspended them in the air where they caught the light and reflected it like glitter.

"It's so small, why do they love it so much?" Dusk chuckled.

"Pretty," Chiho tapped one of the small flecks of water in front of her.

"You have a lot of empty space in your mind, don't you?" Dusk laughed.

"I think too much, even I need to let my mind wander," Chiho responded as the platform clicked into place on the arena. They stepped off and heard it pulling back into place.

"Get ready, this'll be our toughest match yet," Ayano smirked as they all took their places.

Dusk and Chiho met gazes momentarily. They always had a slightly different plan. Ayano often forgot them until they were prepared so they left her part until a little later in the plan.

_Those two brothers are so thin, _Dusk's mouth opened slightly in shock as she noticed how thin and startled the earth-bender and fire-bender looked.

"Dusk, what are you doing?!" Chiho barked as Dusk hadn't seemed to notice the starting bell.

"Sorry!" Dusk jumped into action. Their plan was about to start.

With a quick blast of fire Chiho knocked Dusk to the ground, "s-sorry!"

"What are they doing?" the Fire-ferrets fire-bender looked oddly at the two girls.

Dusk purposefully let water spill near Chiho from a messy attack, causing the heat of Chiho's attacks to steam their side up.

With a startled yelp the Fire-ferret's water-bender was knocked out of the arena.

Dusk was about to attack when she felt a disk of rock crash into the side of her head. Her vision blurred and in bursts of black and white it dimmed.

* * *

"Is she gonna be okay?" a voice unfamiliar to Dusk asked.

"Yes, she'll be fine. I healed the crack in her skull and any swelling that may have been caused was healed as well," another unfamiliar voice stated.

"We don't want to win the round this way! It was our fault she got hit in the head," Ayano argued nearby with someone.

Dusk opened her eyes to the blinding lights of the arena. It was silent except for the sound of the announcer speaking and the people on the arena arguing.

"Are you feeling okay, Dusk?" Chiho asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Dusk asked as she sat up slowly.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" the Fire-ferret's earth-bender asked before Chiho or Ayano could answer.

"I'm fine," Dusk reassured him, glancing questioningly at Chiho.

"He accidentally hit you in the head with an earth disk and it knocked you out. It also fractured your skull but one of the healers healed it," Chiho answered.

"Ask Dusk if she wants you to give us the match before you decide she does!" Ayano argued with the referee.

"Wait, are they disqualifying the Fire-ferrets?!" Dusk asked.

"Yeah," Chiho nodded.

"Wait! I don't want to win the match this way," Dusk walked over to where Ayano and the referee stood. She was more than a little pride hurt by the suggestion of their victory.

"Even after that hit, the Rat-foxes will continue their fight with their water-bender!" the announcer called as the decision was made.

"Don't go easy on us even though that happened," Dusk demanded as she and the earth-bender went to their own teams.

"Are you sure you're alright, Dusk?" Chiho asked.

"Yep, if I didn't know I'd say I'd never been hit earlier," Dusk smiled as she took her place at the lead of the team.

* * *

**A/N: I'm gonna let you all decide whether or not she won the match. Thanks so much for taking time to read this. If you did I'd really like to hear what you thought. Any advice, did you see any errors, anything you want me to change? Even if you just put a smiley face as a review I'd be happy. The next chapter will start after Korra has gotten to Republic City and met Mako and Bolin. Again, thanks for reading, R&R :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own LoK

* * *

Chapter 2 A memorable match

"Be careful, this team is known to cheat a lot," Dusk warned under her breath as her and her friends did one of their entrance bending shows, this time V had joined in.

"It's scary how you can say stuff like that with that smile on your face," Ayano gave her usual smirk as her and Chiho created tiny fireworks from rock and fire, which V chased around.

"It's a habit, don't tell me you haven't developed a similar one," Dusk smiled back as she let the falling sparks ignite a cloud of steam that swayed almost magically as they passed through it and onto the arena.

"This match will be a big one! Two champion teams, the Rat-foxes and the Wolf-bats!" the announcer boomed, causing the crowd to burst into loud cheers.

"They pay off the refs, so we won't be able to say that they were cheating," Dusk whispered as they took their places.

"We'll need luck to win," Chiho nodded.

"We've only lost two matches, I don't want to make that three," Ayano responded as the starting bell rang and they leapt into action.

With a startled gasp Chiho slipped on ice and was sent back into zone two.

_Never thought anyone would be so desperate they'd have to fight with ice, _Dusk watched as Chiho was knocked back into zone three.

Ayano let out a startled scream as she was hit by a blast of water incasing a rock disk. She was knocked to zone three.

Dusk sent a blast of water towards their earth-bender but was startled as the rock plate beneath her foot was bent up and she was hit with a blast of water when she fell. Before she could reach a hand or foot to the ground as a brake she saw the arena floor end, now the only thing below her was the pool. She reached out to grab the arena edge but she couldn't reach. She slammed against the water so hard it stunned her. But something was wrong, she wasn't floating. Her padded gear should have held her in the water. As she regained feeling in her arms she swam towards the surface.

"She's resurfaced! This girl is incredible. She's had her skull smashed, she's broken an arm, and she's been under the water for nearly a minute but she comes back each time!" the announcer's voice echoed through the arena over the microphone.

_I forgot how cold the water was, _Dusk's lip trembled as her teeth chattered. She quickly swam to the rising platform and climbed on. She rubbed her arms and looked at her gear. It was limp fabric. There was no insulation like it should have had. As she walked back into the changing room to wait for the next round she heard a soft knock at the door. She had learned eavesdropping tricks from Ayano over the years and decided to wait before she answered. She had a bad feeling about something. She crept silently to the door and pressed her ear against the space between the wall and the door.

"Yes, she'll be in here. She won't be back on the arena until next round," a voice hissed in a quiet whisper.

"But no one's answered the door," a second person whispered back.

"She's probably changing clothes or something," the first one whispered.

Dusk could her the sound on an Equalist glove.

She crept back and stood far away from the door. She took a deep breath as she carried the bucket of water and set it next to the door. With a trembling hand she opened the door to reveal two Equalists.

The one wearing the electric glove darted forward as Dusk jumped back and froze water around his feet.

The second was a quick, agile girl. She carried a set of electric rods and managed to graze Dusk's arm. Electricity jolted through Dusk and made her arm go numb. She used to uninjured arm to freeze the girl to a wall. As she did she saw it was time for her to return to the arena.

* * *

"Dusk, are you alright?" Chiho asked, her pale eyes glancing at Dusk's limp arm.

"I'm fine," Dusk nodded, hopping she could regain movement of her arm soon. As the starting bell rang Dusk forced her arm to move. She threw a blast of high pressure water towards the Wolf-bat's earth-bender. She watched as Ayano was nailed with a chunk of ice and sent over the edge of arena.

"Dusk, watch-" Chiho's warning was too slow. Dusk was throw back by a chunk of ice covered rock in water. She was thrown over the edge.

"Oof!" Chiho grunted as she hit Dusk, who had just hit the water.

"The refs may have missed a few calls, but the Wolf-bats won!" the announcer cried out.

"I feel like someone hit me in the chest with a hammer," Ayano groaned.

"They basically did," Chiho coughed as she let herself sprawl out on the cool metal of the platform.

"I hope they get beaten soon," Dusk groaned as she rubbed her side, "Yep, that's gonna leave a big mark. Hey guys, before we get back to our changing room, I've gotta warn you about something. I was ambushed by two equalists, so if they're still frozen to the ground or wall it's okay."

"And you couldn't have mentioned that before? You're getting more scatterbrained than Ayano," Chiho sighed in exasperation, she didn't have the energy to be angry.

"Ow, my chest hurts," Ayano groaned as she rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm glad my sister had a meeting for the junior team and my parents had to go. I'd die of embarrassment if they saw me like this," Dusk laughed lightly.

"I'll die of embarrassment when my brothers see me. They were here today too," Ayano sighed and laid her head back.

"My older sister was here, but she's not too bad about rubbing a loss in my face," Chiho sighed as she walked into the dressing room. She paid no attention to the chi-blocker frozen to the wall.

"I can't wait to go home and sleep," Dusk yawned as she pulled her helmet off. She pulled the ponytail holder out of her soaked hair and pulled her soaked gear off.

"Yeah, and eat something, I'm starved!" Ayano said as she brushed out her hair.

"I'm going to sit by the fire and read when I get home," Chiho smiled blissfully as she thought of letting her short hair dry.

"I might take a bath," Dusk laughed as she stood up and walked to the door, "I've gotta go."

"See you on monday," Chiho waved.

"Bye," Ayano gave a quick wave as she braided her hair.

"See you on monday," Dusk waved as she walked into the dim hallway that led to the front of the building. She yawned as she entered the lobby of the building and pushed the door open. As she walked she hummed quietly to herself, "Huh? V, where'd ya go?"

A squeak answered her as V scampered up to her.

"I wish you'd stop running off like that," she sighed as she picked the rat-fox up. She sighed again and rubbed sorely at her side. She'd ask her mom to heal the bruise when she got home. As she turned the corner towards her house she saw flames leaping between the houses on the street. She stared with wide eyes at the crackling, roaring, soaring flames that seemed to devour her house.

* * *

**A/N: I'm ending this chapter a little short, I really wanted to give you something to think about. Again, thanks a bunch for reading. If you see anything I could make better please tell me :) Thanks for reading, R&R :D And I just wanna ask, to the 27 of you who didn't review, is it too much effort to post a review after you read the whole first chapter? Please tell me why you didn't review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Really, none of us own it, that's why we write on here

* * *

Chapter 3, flames and friends

_Mom and dad are at the meeting with Aki, they're all safe, _Dusk thought desperately as she ran forward. She bent a ball of water from a puddle and raised it above her house; she let it burst into a fine mist that fell on the flames and put them out with a hiss of steam. She walked forward towards the tame fire. She heard a quiet moan of pain from inside and she felt her blood turn to ice. Without a second thought she ran into the wreckage that used to be her house.

"M-mom?" Aki's weak voice whimpered through the air, "Chi-blockers took dad."

"Aki!" Dusk ran over to where her sister was huddled in what used to be a corner of the kitchen. The wood had been burned away and the tile counter protected her from falling debris from the second floor.

"Where's mom?" Aki looked around desperately, "Chi-blockers took dad and set our house on fire."

"It's okay, Aki. I'm sure we'll find them," Dusk soothed as she picked up Aki. She suddenly felt the small hairs on the back of her neck rise. She spun around just in time to see an electric rod slamming into her chest.

* * *

Aki was pinned under Dusk when she fell.

"Help!" Aki cried, begging, pleading for someone to find them. As an hour passed her voice grew weaker from the smoke. The ceiling above them had cracked and now began to tremble, "Dusk, please wake up."

Dusk hadn't moved aside from breathing for the entire hour.

Aki watched as the debris from the roof fell and crumbled. Hot cinders landed on her face and she whimpered in fear. Finally everything fell, and her world went dark.

* * *

"They said both of them probably won't wake up," Chiho's voice broke through a film of darkness that had settled over Dusk's mind.

"Dusk's pulled through a lot. She always gets up," Ayano's voice was shaky.

Dusk finally forced herself to open her eyes. The walls around her were white, the ceiling above her was white., "Aki," she managed to cough weakly, turning her head to look for where Aki was. She saw Chiho and Ayano, both looking stunned.

"I'll go find the doctor and tell him she's awake!" Ayano ran out.

Dusk only caught a glimpse of Ayano's face but she was certain Ayano had been crying.

"Where's Aki?" Dusk asked. Her voice was raspy and quiet.

"She's in another room. Once you're a bit better maybe you can see her," Chiho soothed and sat down in a chair next to Dusk's bed.

"I-I want to see her now," Dusk argued.

"You have to give yourself time to heal, Dusk!" Chiho had never appeared that angry in front of a friend in her life.

"Is she alright?" Dusk asked, her voice barely audible.

"They said she might not wake up. They haven't found your parents either," Chiho said, "But don't worry, Ayano and I will do everything we can to find them."

"You said I have to give myself time to heal, how badly am I injured?" Dusk asked. She knew that she was probably being given pain medicine and wouldn't be able to tell.

"You have a bad electricity burn on your chest and one of your arms is broken. You may also have internal bleeding from being crushed when your house collapsed," Chiho said, "You might also suffer from future lung problems. Though they've found a healer skilled enough to heal you it'll be a few days until she can get here."

"Anything else?" Dusk asked, her voice was more raspy and raw than before.

"No," Chiho shook her head.

"The doctor was busy, we'll have to wait for a few minutes," Ayano had come back. Her cheeks were red and splotched and her eyes were puffy and red, "Dusk, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Dusk smiled and nodded, but she knew they could tell it was an empty smile.

"Did Chiho tell you the healer should be here tomorrow?" Ayano asked.

"Yes," Dusk nodded. The conversation died down after that and an unpleasant silence hung in the air.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Dusk, but I don't have room for you at my house," Ayano apologized, her parents had gone out of town for business and they had a new little sister to take care of.

"Since my parents and I just moved here we have to many boxes filling the house. They said you can't stay with us either," Chiho sighed.

"I'll find somewhere. Maybe Flame's parent's can let me stay with them," Dusk shrugged.

"They went to the Fire Nation, remember? They won't be back for a few months," Chiho shook her head.

"Maybe I can find out where my aunt moved," Dusk looked utterly hopeless. She looked physically healthy aside from being pale but she had almost completely stopped talking to Chiho and Ayano. It was the first time since she had woken up that they had said more than hello.

"We'll help as much as we can. Maybe they'll find your parents soon," Ayano tried desperately to cheer Dusk up.

"No one else who's been captured by Amon has been found," Dusk whimpered.

Ayano hugged Dusk, Chiho joined in the hug.

"Maybe I can live on my own with the money from our matches," Dusk murmured into Chiho's shoulder.

"Yeah," Ayano gently rubbed Dusk's shoulder.

Dusk's shoulders shook a little, "Maybe I can stay at the arena or something."

"We'll help you, we promise," Chiho soothed.

* * *

Dusk's stomach growled as she walked towards the closed arena. She knew a secret entrance, _It's better than being out in the cold wind, at least, _she thought as she squeezed in through the half open window. She walked to one of the innermost training rooms and laid in the center of it.

* * *

As Dusk's eyes slid open against the bright light she noticed that there was a blanket over her. She looked around and saw she was still in the training room. She sat up and stretched as she looked around. A ladder had been pulled from the ceiling; like it led to an attic.

"I'm telling you, Mako," a voice from the ladder said, "There's a girl sleeping down there on the floor."

Someone sighed. Two people climbed down the ladder.

"Sorry," Dusk yawned, "This was the only training room where the walls didn't have cracks in them. It was warmer in here."

The fire-bender who had followed an earth-bender just blinked in surprise.

"See, I told you Mako," the earth-bender said.

The sound of a pile of earth disks toppling over drew their attention. V had scampered across three stacks of earth disks and stood, squeaking and growling, at Pabu.

"V!?" Dusk exclaimed. She hadn't seen V since the night her house had burned down almost two weeks before. She stumbled quickly to her feet and dashed over. She picked V up and kept her beloved pet away from Pabu.

Bolin had picked Pabu up.

* * *

**A/N: Lame ending, I know, but I couldn't find a better place to end it. Thanks a bunch for reading, please review :D And sorry for the wait, the cursed Writer's Block has struck again! But I promise the next chapter might be better :)**


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